information manual - for liver transplant recipients and their families

THE LIVER TRANSPLANT UNITINFORMATION MANUALChronic: Occurring over a long period of time. Thisterm does not refer to the severity of a process, onlyits duration.Chronic active hepatitis: Long-term liver injurydue to inflammation of the liver.Chronic viral hepatitis: Chronic infection of theliver due to the hepatitis viruses B and C.Cirrhosis: The end stage of chronic liver diseasefrom any cause. The liver is scarred and its functionmay be significantly impaired.Clotting factors/proteins: Substances mademainly in the liver to help the normal clotting ofblood. The ability of blood to clot is controlled by thepresence of clotting proteins. Most of these proteinsare made in the liver and exported into the blood.Declining liver function results in reduced clottingpower. Patients with liver disease often have bleedingproblems and lack of clotting factors is one of thereasons for this.Creatinine: A product of muscle metabolism that isexcreted by the kidneys. Creatinine level serves as avery good indicator of kidney function.Cross matching: A test of compatibility betweenthe potential donor’s and prospective recipient’sblood.Cytomegalovirus (CMV): A very common virusthat harmlessly infects many normal people. Itcauses lots of trouble in transplant patients becausethe drugs that prevent rejection of the liver allow thisvirus to be active. Virus activity can effect the liver,blood and eyes. It can be treated if necessary with adrug called Ganciclovir.Coma: A state of drowsiness followed by loss ofconsciousness. May occur in liver failure.Computer Assisted Tomography (CT scan):An X-ray technique using a computer reconstructionof multiple images of the body.Corticosteroids: Drugs used to suppressinflammation, such as prednisolone, prednisone orhydrocortisone.Cryptogenic: Literally means “unknown cause”.Some cases of liver cirrhosis have no known causeand are given the diagnosis “cryptogenic cirrhosis” to44distinguish them from other known causes ofcirrhosis such as alcoholic cirrhosis.Cyclosporin (Neoral): A very important drugwhich virtually all transplant patients now receive.Its function is to prevent rejection of the liver by thebody’s immune system.Cytotoxic: Damaging to cells, for example drugsused to destroy cancer cells.Defective virus: A virus which needs the help ofother viruses to grow, eg. hepatitis D.Dehydration: Loss of water from body cells.Diabetes mellitus: A condition of abnormalglucose metabolism. Blood glucose levels increasedue to the lack of or low effectiveness of the hormoneinsulin. Also affects the way the body uses proteinsand fats.Donor liver: The liver provided to the recipientin a liver transplant operation.Donor: Someone who provides an organ fortransplantation.Doppler Ultrasound: An easily performed,painless test that is often performed after livertransplantation and shows whether or not the bloodflow to and from the liver is normal.Duodenum: The first part of the small intestinejoins the stomach to the jejunum.Electrolytes: Minerals in solution in body fluids.The major electrolytes, sodium, potassium andchloride, influence the distribution of water in thebody. Magnesium and calcium are also electrolytes.Encephalopathy: Confusion or unconsciousnessthat can occur when someone has advanced liverfailure or cirrhosis. It can be treated, but indicatesthat the liver disease is becoming severe.Endotracheal tube: An airway tube insertedthrough the mouth leading to your windpipe to helpyou breathe during surgery.ERCP: A special test for examining the bile ducts.An endoscope is passed down through the mouthand stomach and into the upper part of the smallintestine. Fluid that shows up on X-ray is then